No Country for old men (or women)

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We as an industry don’t protect our own. We use art-handlers as if they are expendable. But this isn’t about the young kid who burns out after a year of hopping trucks. This is about the ones that stay. Except for the protected positions of our field this is a tough industry to get old in, and by our field I mean both the men and women that work in the art service industry on the trucks, building crates, moving artwork in warehouses or climbing ladders all day installing art who for one reason or another have found themselves moving and installing art work for a living much longer than they anticipated and by protected positions I’m taking about positions protected by unions or management positions. At a certain age many of us find ourselves looking for a protected position in a field most never intended to retire from. The art handlers that make up our industry, those that work on trucks or in crate shops or in warehouses or as preparators usually went to school to be artists or writers or they are musicians. This was their “wink,wink” day job they have been warned not to quit but most never expected to raise a family doing this work and none expected to get old as fast as they did. No one ever does.

The thing is, the above describes my generation more than the current generation. My generation includes art-handlers and craters in their mid-50’s to early 60’s that came into the field when making a living as an artist looked like a viable option and when universities offered full-time teaching gigs and not low paying adjunct work. This work force is trying to find a graceful way to finish their “career” and they are hitting a bottleneck of art professionals in their late 20’s and early 30’s that have decided that art service is a career option. They arrived better prepared for management with many diversifying their art or art history degrees with “arts management” classes. They also want those upper tier jobs and the 50 somethings are getting elbowed out. I was already in my late 30’s when I was hiring kids in their early 20’s and warning them “be careful, I know you’re thinking this is just to get by until you get a gallery or you have some Orwellian romantic idea of hard work during the day then creating all night. But it’s a slippery slope and if you find yourself doing this job and not getting to your studio or your rehearsal or if you’re still working at this full time when you meet that someone your going to settle in with or “surprise!” one of you is pregnant, then this is no longer that crap job you’re doing until success greets you. This is it, you’re that person with six years of higher education stuck in a job that a few years back only required a high school diploma. You now have for the foreseeable future what you considered a crap job when you first started and this will continue to be your fall back job until you can figure a way out.

The real issue though isn’t just getting trapped. Trapped implies that if necessary you could do this work forever. That’s not always the case. Years spent lifting heavy objects and jumping off trucks breaks down the average art handlers knees and back until they are wearing so much neoprene to get through the work day they may as well come to work in a scuba suit. I was always the big, strong guy on the crew so I did get stuck with the heavy end of an object more than once. I didn’t worry about weight limits or repetitive damage to my joints and no one else did either. By my mid-40’s I couldn’t kneel. My knee caps were shot. By my 50’s I was getting ready for hip replacements. By my 50’s I knew I’d stayed too long. I couldn’t afford the pay cut teaching full-time would have required and I’d already had a few companies fold underneath me and I needed to find some stability before it was too late. I was staring at the second and third problems that people that work moving and handling art in our industry face. The first problem is that there comes a point when you can’t physically do the work any longer without incredible pain. The industry has changed the past few years but during the 90’s to the early 00’s I watched several colleagues drink themselves to death just to get through the day. These were quality people that died too young and they died working and self-medicating. Physically getting beat down while you’re still young is the first problem for most. If you are lucky enough to be in your mid-50’s and you are still physically fine and plan to work another 15 years before you retire you still have to look at your company or your gallery and ask if they will hold up their end of the bargain. The second problem is companies and galleries close or consolidate and the first to get cut is the front line art-handlers. If you started with your gallery or trucking company as a 20 year old working for a 40 year old owner and you are now in your mid 50’s, then your company owner is now in their mid 70’s. If you need to work until your 70 do you seriously expect your company owner to still be active in their 90’s? If they close in the next five years what do you do? Even if you committed to a large stable company in your 30’s and it’s now your 25th anniversary with this company you may feel you have proven your loyalty but there is nothing that protects you beyond a handshake and a pat on the back. That should make you nervous, your 55 going on 60 and you have to ask yourself how long can you keep this up and how do you retire? How do you retire is the third problem.

I guess the point of this is how do we protect art-handlers, drivers, crate builders, installers and any front line staff. How do we make their work something that they can retire from or at least make it into their 60’s without panicking. I’m not saying they’re working with no benefits but in many cases it is close. I’m sure there are a few companies that do take care of their staff but I know there are many really bad plans that require the worker to invest with no matching funds and the medical plans while working run the gamut from poor to average. I know many owners want to offer more. Most can’t afford a package that protects their staff long-term and I know that is upsetting to many. I’ve heard some call for unions in the workplace but I don’t think that’s a solution either. What I know and I’ve said for a long time is that the art service industry can be seen as one big work place. I can see a driver or project manager working for one company one week and their competitor the following week. The companies come and go but the people are still here, still working. Many of us knew these people when there were still art shipping companies in Soho. The same people have been with a half dozen companies or more since then. The companies shut their doors but the employees are still here. If you know me then you know them and honestly I don’t know anyone that doesn’t care about the state of the long term art-handler and yet we act surprised when we find out they’ve spent their last years in an SRO. At the same time I understand why the small art service company can’t provide real benefits. The margins are tight and the industry has changed. Every industry says they’ve changed every ten years but ours really has. The art service industry went from mom and pop stores and a few large national moving companies to massive corporations but that front line art handler is still making deliveries, jumping off the lift gate and battering their knees regardless. In spite of each and every companies competitive nature to be the sole provider the art service industry needs a wide range of companies to supply the appropriate level of service.

So how do we as an industry protect our front liners. I think this is something we have to work on together. I’m suggesting that a few brave owners and the ones that may have the most influence investigate multi-employer benefit plans (MEP’s). This would be a plan where the more investors involved the lower the rates and each company can decide on their own if they match funds and at what level. Invite every art service company and every small gallery to listen to the proposal, to discuss the proposal and if it works to take part in the plan. Sure it may be a little scary working with your competitor to improve the industry, but we both know that small six person two truck shop isn’t really your competitor. But their staff may one day be your staff. It is just one big art service company out there after all and when that crate builder or driver makes it to your company you want a happy, experienced professional and not someone hanging on by their fingernails. For the front line art handler that may work for a half dozen or more companies in a 40-50 year career they could have a pension that would follow them from job to job. Companies may close but the benefits are still there. This may not be the plan you think will work so if you have a better idea lets start talking about it. Lets get something that works. I’ve been working in the art services in NYC since the late 80’s and all for pretty stable or well funded companies at the time. Both commercial galleries and art service companies. My first pension after about 6 years was worth around $300. My second was actually pretty good, after about 5 years I had almost $50,000 but it wasn’t vested and the company took it. The other three companies were the same, either nothing or very little. I didn’t really start a retirement fund until I started working for a museum and that was the reason I took the position. If I had stayed on the trucks my pension would have been laughable. If your a 20-30 something installing art or building crates all of this may mean nothing to you but you should know that you’re working next to a few 50 -60 somethings that are scared out of their minds about the next 20 years of their lives.

Yes our industry has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. It’s become more professional, it’s become better educated. A few people have done very well from the changes. and the art service industry has become a viable career for many but my point is, not for all. I can’t do anything about it, I only have the power to suggest, but there are a few people that could do something and not just for their company, but industry wide. and something that has real impact and meaning. Something that can change lives. The person that steps up and takes this on will have my admiration and support in whatever it takes… well unless it requires lifting something because, no hips no knees.